July 19, 2015

Raymond business owners and residents gathered to discuss economic growth and development - By Michelle Libby

For
more than a year Raymond has been looking at changes that could be made to it
so people would think of it as a destination and a place to do business. Last
year a feasibility study was conducted by the Economic Development Task Force, and
they hoped to partner with USM to create an incubator program, which would help
develop new products. However, that fell through.

Last
month, the town planned two forums under the direction of Planning Decisions in
the hopes of moving toward an economic development strategy. Only one of the
forums was held. The other business owners, who planned to attend the first
forum, received a phone call from Milan Nevajda from Planning Decisions to be
interviewed personally.

The
attendees were a spread of all ages, said Nevajda. They also represented
business owners, commercial property owners in and out of the commercial strip,
various committees and economic development and even former business owners
from the recent past, he said.

During
the feasibility study, ninety percent of business owners said they planned to
stay in Raymond, said Danielle Loring, director of development for the town. They
also want to grow their businesses in Raymond.

“There
was a lot of energy in the 18th meeting. A lot of passion about what
they want to do,” said Loring.

The
focus group wanted to see direct impact from what decisions are made. They want
to grow and function more effectively. The focus groups were a way to recommend
needs and strategies for improving Raymond.

Planning
Decisions collected four pages of data listing strengths and weaknesses and
will make specific recommendations to the town, like tracking the vendors and
supply chains to connect businesses already connected to ones that need the
same services.

“It’s
a lot of material to sift through,” said Nevajda.

The
forum was asked about Internet and Broadband service and if they wanted to
expand the infrastructure to see greater speed. However, most of the
conversations were about broader topics like policy changes to make doing
business in Raymond more friendly, rather than focusing on specific
businesses.

“We
are looking for a step by step recipe to help our businesses and to attract and
retain businesses going forward,” Loring said. Some of those steps would
include training for staff, infrastructure and better business courses.

One
of the suggestions was to create an economic development position to create a
direct channel to policy makers and the town staff, said Nevajda. This person
would be informed and will talk about what needs to happen, funneling
information from the town to business owners and back.

“Raymond
didn’t have a specific person who could lead economic development,” said
Nevajda. Raymond wants to “change the mindset that it’s not a pass through to
more attractive tourist areas like Naples or the shopping area in Windham.
People didn’t see Raymond as a place to stop and take care of business. The
goal is to make Raymond more of a destination, more identifiable,” he said.

Two
things suggested that Raymond work on were marketing and awareness, and bricks
and mortar buildings. Another big piece was town regulations and how to balance
what’s feasible versus what the goals of the town are.

“We
want to change Raymond’s image as a drive through town,” Loring said. Raymond
has begun its campaign to brand and create more opportunities with its recent
Everyone loves Raymond, ME festival over the Fourth of July.

Planning
Designs will create a report with the feedback for later in the summer. The
focus group is part of a larger economic development plan intending to provide Raymond
with specific instruction on what public activities and investments can be made
to help growth businesses achieve their projected or aspired-to growth,
attract new businesses to Raymond that make sense for the community and create
an environment that fosters business growth and attracts new businesses to
Raymond.